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MSX2

The MSX2 is a computer developed by Microsoft. It was released in 1985. Notable titles include Metal Gear.

Despite this being a product of Microsoft, it's likely you've never heard of this computer. It was primarily popular in the Asian, South American and European regions, but virtually unknown in North America.

Manufacturing was split up among a wide range of companies, including Pioneer, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony, Sanyo, Philips and LG Goldstar. Therefore, there were many different alternative names for the system, including:

  • Panasonic FS-A1
  • Panasonic FS-A1mkII
  • Toshiba FS-TM1

This system scrapes metadata for the “msx” group and loads the msx2 set from the currently selected theme, if available.

Grouped with the “msx” group of systems.

Quick reference

  • Accepted ROM formats: .dsk, .mx2, .rom, .zip, .7z, .cas, .m3u
  • Folder: /userdata/roms/msx2
Emulators
libretro: bluemsx
libretro: fmsx
openmsx

BIOS

MD5 checksum Share file path Description
ec3a01c91f24fbddcbcab0ad301bc9ef bios/MSX2.ROM
2183c2aff17cf4297bdb496de78c2e8a bios/MSX2EXT.ROM

Download the BlueMSX standalone at http://bluemsx.msxblue.com/rel_download/blueMSXv282full.zip

Then extract the “Databases” and “Machines” folders and add them to the bios folder.

For fMSX these files are required instead: 

CARTS.SHA
CYRILLIC.FNT
DISK.ROM
FMPAC.ROM
FMPAC16.ROM
ITALIC.FNT
KANJI.ROM
MSX.ROM
MSX2.ROM
MSX2EXT.ROM
MSX2P.ROM
MSX2PEXT.ROM
MSXDOS2.ROM
PAINTER.ROM
RS232.ROM

ROMs

Place your MSX2 ROMs in /userdata/roms/msx2.

Multi-disk games

Some MSX2 games require multiple disks to play. This can be handled by RetroArch using a M3U playlist. For example:

test-game.m3u
test game disk 1.dsk
test game disk 2.dsk
test game disk 3.dsk

Batocera will automatically hide the extra disk files and only show the M3U playlist as the playable game in EmulationStation.

Emulators

RetroArch

RetroArch has its own page.

libretro: blueMSX

blueMSX is a cycle-accurate, open-source MSX/SVI/ColecoVision/SG-1000 emulator with high compatibility. This is the libretro port of it.

libretro: blueMSX configuration
ES setting name batocera.conf_key Description ⇒ ES option key_value
Settings that apply to all systems this core supports
REDUCE SPRITE FLICKERING global.bluemsx_nospritelimits Enhancement. Remove the four sprites per line limit.
⇒ Off False, On True.

All other settings must be adjusted with RetroArch's Quick Menu ([HOTKEY] + South button (B SNES)).

libretro: fMSX

libretro: fMSX configuration

Standardized features for this core: msx2.rewind, msx2.autosave, msx2.netplay, msx2.cheevos

openmsx

openmsx configuration

Standardized features available to all cores of this emulator: msx2.videomode, msx2.padtokeyboard, msx2.videomode, msx2.bezel, msx2.bezel_stretch, msx2.hud, msx2.hud_corner, msx2.bezel.tattoo, msx2.bezel.tattoo_corner, msx2.bezel.tattoo_file, msx2.bezel.resize_tattoo

Controls

Here are the default MSX2's controls shown on a Batocera RetroPad:

Troubleshooting

Further troubleshooting

For further troubleshooting, refer to the generic support pages.

  • systems/msx2.txt
  • Last modified: 19 months ago
  • by atari